Real Talk: Have You Gotten Gardasil? Women Share Their Thoughts On The HPV Vaccine

Earlier this month, Michele Bachmann tried to equate Gardasil–the suddenly controversial HPV vaccine–with “mental retardation.” It’s 1) deeply irresponsible that Bachmann would say something like that on national television without a shred of evidence and 2) jaw-dropping that she said “mental retardation” with a straight face. For better or worse, Bachmann’s stupid bullshit has inspired more than a few debates about the supposed ethics behind giving young girls Gardasil–is it a preventive measure that will save lives or just another way of tacitly condoning teen sex*? God forbid kids know how to use condoms and are less likely to get cervical cancer.

Anyway, in the shadow of this towering straw man, we asked some ladies if they’ve had Gardasil and how they feel about the subject. The women asked have varying political opinions, but I can say with supreme confidence that they all know more about Gardasil than Michele Bachmann.

As for the images in the slides, we have used photos of libraries and books, because that’s where the liberal media machine likes to conceal sensitive information.

I got the Gardisil shot 2 years ago, when I was 24. I’ve had 2 friends get diagnosed with HPV while we were in college. One of those friends got cervical cancer as a result. Crappy things happen even if you are being safe. Do everything you can to stay healthy.

emma

If this vaccine was given in line with the slew kids get in their early years (there is no medical reason its given at 12-13) no one would say anything. It’s a vaccine to prevent CANCER. I’m all aboard. Plus its also not just a women’s issue, boys should be getting this vaccine too, its a sexually transmitted infection, which means it needs to be transmitted aka from men to women and vice versa.

Laura

Perhaps boys should get it for the sti, but the reason for the vaccine isn’t to prevent the sti, it’s to prevent cervical cancer and boys don’t seem to need the prevention as much

Anonymous

To Laura:

That is dangerous logic…

1) Men act as carriers and distribute it to more women, who then distribute it to more men, who then distribute it to more women…etc. Not all women will get the vaccine, so the more men who could be immunized the better.

2) Men can get penile, prostate, and other cancers from HPV. The effects in men are not yet as well understood as they are in women, and they are not as common, but these are certainly on the list for now.

Carolyn

HELL YES boys should get it too. They get HPV just as often as women, this is evident in the way they SPREAD IT TO WOMEN, so boys getting the vaccine would cut down on cervical cancer in women!

Only Facts

Kids use the same towels, washclothes, etc as their sexually active parenets and siblings,. MERCK states that 27% of kids already have antibodies to at least one of the four types of HPV viruses found in the Gardasil vaccine: HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18. Vaccinnating one of these kids may actually result in a 44% increase, not decrease, in cervical cancer in women. According to MERCK, girls who have allergies, weakened immune systems, are sick, or are pregnant, SHOULD NOT receive the HPV vaccine. This can be found in the EXCLUSION CRITERIA in clinical trial # NCT01096134, listed by MERCK, the vaccine manufacturer, at ClinicalTrials.gov

Jamie Peck

I’m embarrassed to report that I only got the first two doses. There’s still time, so I might start the whole thing over again. I know this sounds like an excuse, but my new doctor made it really difficult by writing a scrip and making me go get the serum myself, then bring it back to be injected with it. I gave up after two pharmacies didn’t have it.

macalny

To Sarah’s point about women not getting checked for HPV until age 30, it’s actually that most women aren’t screened for it AFTER age 30. You’re much more likely to be exposed to HPV by age 30 and then be in a stable relationship, etc. so many doctors don’t screen ‘older’ women for HPV.

To Elly’s point about not being able to get Gardasil b/c she’s over 27, I got Gardasil at age 30 or 31. It’s not that you CAN’T get it, it’s just that b/c the FDA studies were done in younger women (under 25, maybe?) some doctors say, “Oh, Gardasil isn’t approved for women over a certain age.” Also, if you’re over 27 you might just have to pay out of pocket for it. Don’t think you absolutely can’t get Gardasil.

Obviously I got Gardasil and think it’s the bomb. Get it. No, it doesn’t protect you against all strains of HPV – there are A LOT! – but I just don’t see a downside to protecting yourself from potentially getting cervical cancer.

Cynthia Janak

The easiest and safest way to protect yourself is to get tested every year, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, check your glutathione level every year. If you glutathione level is at optimum your immune system will be at optimum efficiency. Another thing is check your pH. This needs to be between 7.35 and 7.45 for optimum body health. These are simple things to do to stay healthy and do not cost an arm and a leg and possibly your health if you have a pre-existing condition.

DBV

MERCK states that if the vaccine is administered to a patient with HPV16, that person has a 44% GREATER chance of contracting servical cancer. Why would you want to go against the people who make the vaccine? LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR.

MM

I was told by my doctor that it doesn’t make sense to get it after you’ve become sexually active, and I’d have to shell ~$200 for it so I decided against it. But some of you ladies have gotten it older than me (currently 21) and I’m guessing some of you were sexually active before, maybe I just had a stupid doctor?

Carolyn

You should DEFINITELY still get it!!!!! It only makes sense to not to get it if you’ll never have sex again in your life. There are something like 30 strains of genital HPV out there… if you ever have sex with a new person you could get a new strain and increase your risk of cancer! SO GET THE VACCINE!!! :)

Carolyn

(even though the vaccine only protects against TWO of the strains that cause cancer. Who knows which strains you’ve been exposed to before, or might be exposed to in the future…)

Cynthia Janak

Carol, Have you done any research at all into this vaccine? Apparently you have not. I have been researching this since Feb of 2007 and would not recommend this vaccine. If you have a family history of allergies or auto-immune disease (which is excluded from trials) you have a greater likely hood of having an adverse reaction. This vaccine targets the Th2 response (which is an inflammatory) which triggers IgE (another inflammatory) which in turn triggers the histamine receptors (which is an inflammatory). People with a family history of allergies and/or autoimmune disease are likely to have elevated levels of IgE and histamine receptors. What this combo has the potential to do is create a cytokine storm which can cause the body to attack itself. So Carol before speaking do your research. I know thousands who are now experiencing severe reactions that have limited their quality of life. Many are now disabled. I would not wish the possibility of disability on anyone.

DBV

MERCK states that if the vaccine is administered to a patient with HPV16, that person has a 44% GREATER chance of contracting servical cancer. LISTEN TO YOUR DOCTOR

Heather Meyers

Any Doctor who gives you the shot without first telling you death is a side effect is stupid. Not to mention the other long list of side effects that dont seems to go away years later.
If you want to know if your doctor is smart, ask him how many have died from this shot- 103
adverse Events 23,388
how long does shot last – about 5 years
how much polysorbate 80 is in it – 50mcg per shot (sterilizing agent)
it also stimulates the immune system
how much aluminum .225 mcg per SHOT
can cause neurologic damage
how much sodium borate 35mcg
what is sodium borate? Boric acid- main ing in Roach Killer a known and dangerous poision
ask him the side effects: seizures, vomiting, rashes, hives, migraines, paralysis, brain fog, extreme fatigue, swelling, enlarged lymphnodes, yeast infections, skin eruptions, GBS, reactions to food and having sudden allergies after shot. pain, pain and more pain everywhere,strokes, all these stmptoms can go on for years–did I mention death????
Ask your doctor a few questions before you decide!

Alex

Don’t believe these new studies that say you’re protected if you only get 2 of the 3 doses. I became sexually active during that window (in a monogamous relationship that I’m still in today) and got HPV. You are NOT protected if you don’t get all three shots, don’t let these bogus studies fool you.

Anonymous

Gardasil only protects against 4 types of HPV (2 high risk, 2 low risk)…. there are over 30 genital types though. So you can get the shot AND get HPV….

Alex

That’s true, but the vaccine protects against the HPV strains that cause 70-75% of cervical cancer cases. I got the high risk type, usually caused by type 16 or 18. While there is a chance that I contracted some unusual strain, I mostly likely just wasn’t fully protected because I didn’t take the last dose.

Heather Meyers

I am overwhelmed with the ignorance I am reading!! For one Michele Bachmann is nowhere near stupid and is not talking Bulshit as this article states. Let answer the real questions here. VAERS has reported 23,388 Adverse reactions as of June 2011. 103 of our youth have died. Thiers are 1000s and 1000s of sick kids, my daughter being one of them. I have spoke with several several other moms and thier kids as well going thru the same thing as I. Does anyone here realize this vaccine las tmaybe up to 5 years before you need a booster. Do you know that is contains .225mcg of aluminum – one reason my daughter was toxic. You are also injecting polysorbate 80 into your blood (sterilizing agent) 14 yr olds are having ovarian failure. Many more suffer from paralysis, seizures, vomiting, migraines, hives, the list goes on. these girls have been pulled out of school. Did I mention sodium borate is in thix vax, thats roach killer folks and if you get this shot while you have an HPV virus you just increased your chances of cervical cancer by 44%. If you want to be Informed go to truthaboutgardasil.org, better yet go to utube and type in gardasil deaths and see the faces of the girls we have lost. In my opinion spend your money on a pap smear, but dont injuect a 9 yr old 3 times in 6 months with this toxic deadly vaccine until you do your research. If you do , you wont regret it!!

Anne

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU GET THESE SHOTS… The chance of getting an adverse reaction is bigger than the chance of getting cervical cancer! It only protects against 4 strains of HPV and only for a couple of years. You can still get HPV and related cancers so don’t forget that you still have to do Pap smears. Research VAERS (US reporting system) or look at http://www.truthaboutgardasil.org.
My daughter is just 15 and has spent the last 2.5 years in bed because of this vaccine, she has had headaches 24/7 for over 2 years, has no energy, can’t go to school or have a social life, she can’t even answer emails from her friends…. We are living a daily nightmare nd we don’t know if she will ever get over it. And she is not the only one, 23.000 plus adverse effects, over 100 kids died. Do you want to take the chance to be one of them?

Please research gardasil before you make the decision to get the vaccine or continue the series. I wish more had been unavailable 3 years ago. My daughter has been unable to attend school the past 2.5 due to side effects from gardasil.
Also, I noticed most of you were in your 20′s. Please note, that the FDA says if a woman who has been exposed to vaccine-relevant HPV submits to HPV vaccination, her risk of developing precancerous lesions may increase by 45%!!http://sanevax.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/03.27.11-HPV-Vaccine-Fact-Sheet121.pdf

Steve

I am a Minnesotan, and a Republican… But I can say with some authority that Bachmann has overdosed on Guardasil.

Cynthia Janak

It is so obvious to me that you do not know the definition of mental retardation. Let me enlighten you.
Symptoms:
• Decreased learning ability
• Failure to meet the markers of intellectual development
• Inability to meet educational demands at school
• Lack of curiosity
Complications vary. They may include:
• Inability to care for self
• Inability to interact with others appropriately
• Social isolation
Now doesn’t this sound a little like Autism? Did you know that the diagnosis of Autism is in 4 reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System?
What many of the young people are experiencing in their own words is “brain fog”. They have a hard time remembering simple tasks, etc.
You also claimed there is no evidence. Oh you could not be more wrong. There are many many studies out there that prove that aluminum is a neuro toxin. The reports presented to the FDA the actual ingredients in the placebo are now in dispute. We do not know is one of the ingredients in the aluminum compound really is. If it is what we expect you have another inflammatory trigger. Another thing is that the aluminum adjuvant composition has a sulfur derivative. People with a sulfur allergy should not receive this vaccine but that is not listed on the Physicians Product Insert. I wish people who try to come across as knowledgeable like you would research first. You are doing more harm than good in regards to the health and well being of people.

Jessica

The fact that you call gardasil “suddenly controversial” proves you are even more ignorant than Michele Bachmann. Whether or not you are for or against it, it has been the very definition of controversial from the day it was fast-tracked approved. When a vaccine has no long term safety or efficacy studies past 5 years, yet states want to mandate it as a requirement for girls to attend school (one of those states governed by Perry actually bypassed the legislature with an executive order mandating it) for a sexually transmitted disease that virtually all people will have at some point, the vast majority of whom clear it easily (and without drugs!) from their bodies. Only a tiny percentage go on to develop cervical cancer and only a tiny percentage of those die. While 3700 deaths is far too many, that is classified as extremely rare. This isn’t a public health emergency like measles or pertussis.

Worst of all, these decisions to mandate this new vaccine were not coming from doctors, healthcare experts, and not even the lead developer of the vaccine, it was being heavily lobbied by Merck, who makes it. They spent millions on efforts in every state to get it mandated. Does it actually not bother you people a pharmaceutical company who stands to make billions who in turn can pay politicians millions are the two groups who are mandating what your babies will be injected with next? It should! If you are for this vaccine, good for you, I’m sure you’ve looked into it and have made an educated decision. The fact still remains that your opinion does not matter, you could just as easily be on the other side of the fence regarding a mandated vaccine. Why, oh why, don’t people care that 2 groups of power and money hungry jerks are taking the decisions on their children’s health away from them? I’ll never understand it and I’ll never agree with it. Wake up people, our bodies used to be the only thing we had complete control over.

Cathy

Walk a mile in my daughter’s shoes…she can’t without pain thanks to Gardasil. We have lived a 4 year nightmare with the so-called safe vaccine. I am not anti-vaccine, but it seems as though the media, CDC, FDA and the medical community are all drinking the same Merck kool aid. This vaccine is not safe…check out the injuries, please, please investigate this drug. Don’t become the statistic that she has become.
Over 24,000 injuries, over 110 deaths. If the auto industry produced a car with that record, they would be answering before congress, the car would be off the market and there would be results. I suppose, our kids, our future are much more expendable.

Heather Meyers

I believe Toyota was recalled after 56 deaths, go figure!!!

Stacey

I just got the Gardisil vaccine for my 11yr old daughter and 13yr old son at the advisement of the health dept…I get home and have my friends tell me all the risks Why the hell didnt they tell me the risks because i sure as hell would not havve givin this poison to my kids!!! Im pissed, and terrified that something is now gonna happen to my kids! DO these side effects nornally happen after the 3rd dose? hey recieved the 1st one (and last one)

Yulez

I got the Gardasil vaccine at age 26 (no sexual activity ever), and was on bedrest for 4 weeks following. Still on the mend two months later. I’m not even getting a flu shot in the future.

Jill

Almost 30 years ago, I went in for a pap smear and had minor irregularities in the results. Every time I went in – the results were worse. In UNDER 7 MONTHS I worked my way up to Carcinoma in Situ Stage 3 (Cancer in other words – bad and working up to the spreading through the body stage) I ended up having to have 2 procedures to remove it – because the first didn’t work. Let me ask you – how often do you get a pap smear? If I hadn’t caught it by lucky timing – I don’t know if I’d be here. Now… do you think I advised my girls to get the shots? At that time it was the only game in town. Now there is a choice of vaccines …